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There have been several reports that steroid administration is effective at preventing strictures after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). However, adverse events after steroid use are of great concern. We have reported that shielding with a polyglycolic acid (PGA) sheet and fibrin glue can be useful for prevention of stricture after ESD. We conducted a retrospective analysis of efficiency of shielding with a PGA sheet and fibrin glue for prevention of esophageal stricture compared with intralesional steroid injection. ESD was performed on a total of 489 lesions in 400 patients for superficial esophageal cancer from January 2012 to July 2016. Of these, 39 lesions were enrolled in the study group (PGA sheet and fibrin glue) and 31 lesions were enrolled in the control group. The incidence of postoperative stricture at 6 weeks and the number of sessions of endoscopic balloon dilatation (EBD) required to resolve any strictures were evaluated. The post-ESD stricture rate was 9.1% in the study group (3/33 patients), which was not significantly lower than the stricture rate of 10.3% in the historical control group (3/29 patients; p=1.00). The mean number of EBD was 0.057 ± 0.24 in the study group and 1.9 ± 5.1 in the control group, which was not significant (P=0.95). PGA sheet and fibrin glue appear to be a promising option for the prevention of esophageal stricture similar to the effect of intralesional steroid injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To realize high spatial resolution imaging ellipsometric measurement with large field of view, we developed a rotatable Offner system with unit magnification. When the conventional Offner imaging system is tilted relative to the sample plane for the ellipsometric measurement, only a small region of plane is in focus. The rotatable Offner system developed here renders the entire object in focus through all rotations. The performance of the prototype of the Offner system and imaging ellipsometer is tested by generating maps of the ellipsometric parameters Δ and Ψ for samples such as a silicon wafer and a resolution target made of chromium film evaporated on a glass substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Esophageal squamous cell cancer ( ESCC) is a high-grade carcinoma that is treated with multidisciplinary approaches, including chemoradiotherapy ( CRT) followed by surgery. Despite some success with these therapies, overall survival remains poor. In order to investigate a newer CRT regimen, we designed a comparative study to evaluate preoperative CRT using docetaxel ( DOC) or 5- Fluorouracil and cisplatin ( FU+ CDDP [ FP] therapy) for treatment of resectable ESCC. In a retrospective review of patients with resectable, locally advanced ESCC, 95 patients received preoperative CRT between 2001 and 2007. CRT was administered using either FP ( n = 40) or DOC ( n = 55). Pathological response and clinical outcomes were compared between the two groups. Hazard ratios and time-to-event analyses were used to assess outcomes; the ratios were controlled by multivariate logistic regression analysis of potential prognostic factors, and survival was presented with Kaplan- Meier curves. In the FP group, a significant curative effect was observed on the basis of pathological examination of postoperative lesions. However, the DOC group presented a significantly better prognosis on the basis of cumulative survival rates. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the presence of five or more lymph node metastases was an independent predictor of reduced survival. Patients with lymph node metastasis exhibited a better prognosis in the DOC group than those in the FP group. Preoperative CRT for locally advanced esophageal cancer using DOC results in similar or better long-term outcomes compared with FP-based CRT. Therefore, CRT using DOC is a promising therapy option for esophageal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In some patients without distant metastases according to conventional preoperative investigations, relapse occurs in distant organs within a few years after radical resection of esophageal cancer. Various attempts have been made to detect micrometastases that are not found by conventional techniques. A quantitative real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was used to detect messenger RNA for carcinoembryonic antigen in 147 blood samples from 49 patients scheduled for radical resection of esophageal cancer at Juntendo University Hospital between September 2003 and June 2004. The number of circulating cancer cells was assessed and the clinical significance of detecting such micrometastases was analyzed. Multivariate analysis showed that positivity of this assay was significantly associated with pT1 or pT2 disease and stage III or stage IV disease. Patients with more than 40–50 carcinoembryonic antigen mRNA copies among 104 normal cells on quantitative analysis had a higher recurrence rate. The number of tumor cells circulating in the blood may have more influence on the prognosis of esophageal cancer than the presence of tumor cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the clinical significance of the apoptosis- related molecule expression of tumor cells in patients with advanced esophageal cancer treated with preoperative chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Preoperative CRT reduced Bcl-XL expression in a significant proportion of the group responding to CRT but not in the group resisting CRT, although Bcl-2 expression was reduced in both groups. The mean survival time of the patients with cancers that lost Bcl-XL following CRT was significantly longer compared to those with cancers expressing Bcl-XL. These results suggested that CRT reduced Bcl-XL expression, and this decrease closely correlated with the prolonged survival of advanced esophageal cancer patients treated with preoperative CRT. Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), we investigated the clinical significance of bone marrow micrometastases in patients with esophageal cancer. Bone marrow samples from 57 patients with esophageal cancer, who underwent esophagotomy, were investigated by specific RT-PCR for carcinoembryonic antigens (CEA). A total of 40 out of 57 patients (70.1%) were positive for CEA mRNA in the bone marrow. Among curatively resected cases, 34 of 50 patients (68.0%) were positive for CEA. Ten of 13 T1 patients (76.9%) were positive for CEA. Although the CEA-positive rate was high, there was no significant correlation between CEA positivity and any clinical characteristics. Among the 40 CEA-positive patients, 50% have shown recurrence so far. Detection of cancer cells in the bone marrow by RT-PCR may not always correspond to the malignant potential or other characteristics of the tumor. CEA-positive 'micrometastases' might actually represent isolated circulating tumor cells without much biological significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flavopiridol is a synthetic flavone that has shown an antitumor effect against several cancers. Here, we investigated the in vitro effect of flavopiridol alone and the combined effect of low-dose flavopiridol plus radiation on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines (TE8, TE9 and KE4) were exposed to flavopiridol (0.05-400 nmol/L) for 48 h. Growth inhibition was evaluated by MTT assay, cell cycle distribution was determined by flow cytometry, and cyclin D1, Bcl-2 and Rb protein expression was detected by Western blotting. The effect of 0.05 nmol/L flavopiridol as a radio-sensitizer was determined by clonogenic assay. The IC50 was approximately 110-250 nmol/I. Exposure to 0.05 nmol/L flavopiridol for 48 h increased the G2/M population, while 300 nmol/L increased the G1 population. At a concentration of 300 nmol/L, nuclear fragmentation and chromatin condensation were observed in all three cell lines. Exposure to 300 nmol/L flavopiridol decreased the levels of cyclin 1)1 and Rb protein in all three cell lines and Bcl-2 protein was also decreased in TE8 and KE4 cells. Moreover, exposure to 0.05 nmol/ L flavopiridol slightly decreased the levels of cyclin D, Rb and Bcl-2 protein in KE4 cells. Flavopiridol treatment (0.05 nmol/L) enhanced the radio-sensitivity in all three cell lines. Low-dose flavopiridol augmented the response of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines to radiation. Administration of a low dose of flavopiridol could be a potent new therapeutic approach for improving the efficacy of radiotherapy against esophageal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the clinicopathologic significance of p53 gene mutations, including a comparison of DNA analysis and immunohistochemical examination, in Japanese patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, a highly aggressive cancer. Genomic DNA isolated from 76 tumors without preoperative treatment was subjected to polymerase chain reaction and sequencing. Associations were sought between p53 mutations and clinicopathologic characteristics. Cases also were investigated immunohistochemically to detect abnormal p53 protein accumulation. Overexpression of p53 protein occurred in 51 cases (67.1%), while gene mutations in the examined exons were found in only 14 (18.4%). By multivariate analysis, p53 mutation predicted detection of eight or more lymph node metastases. Mutations of the p53 gene may not only participate in the initiation of esophageal cancer, but also may promote lymph node metastasis. Unlike gene mutations, p53 protein overexpression did not predict nodal metastasis extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DFBX distribution boxes provide cryogenic and electrical services to superconducting quadrupoles and to a superconducting dipole at either end of four of the long straight sections in the LHC. The DFBX boxes also provide instrumentation and quench protection to the magnets. Current for the quadrupole and the dipole magnet is delivered through leads that combine HTS and gas cooled leads. Current for the 600 A and 120 A correction magnets is provided by pure gas-cooled leads. The bus bars from the leads to the magnets pass through low leak-rate lambda plugs between 1.8 K and 4.4 K. The heat leak into the 1.9 K region from the liquid helium tank is determined by the design of the lambda plugs. This paper describes the DFBX boxes and their function of delivering current and instrumentation signals to the magnets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY. In 97 patients (60, chemotherapy; 22, chemoradiotherapy; 15, radiotherapy), histopathologic effects were evaluated microscopically, and histologic response rates were compared among three neoadjuvant treatment modalities. Predictive factors for neoadjuvant therapies were analyzed by logistic regression, including the results of p53 immunohistochemical staining. In the chemoradiotherapy group, the pathologic response rate was 86.4%, and was significantly higher than that for chemotherapy (P < 0.0001) or for radiotherapy (P = 0.0031). In patients with normal p53 protein expression, the histopathologic response rate to chemotherapy was 20.0%, a higher rate than that for patients with abnormal p53 overexpression. In the chemoradiotherapy or radiotherapy group, however, the response rates were almost the same, irrespective of p53 oncoprotein status. From multivariate analysis, the neoadjuvant treatment modality itself was identified as the most powerful predictive factor for the effect. Chemoradiotherapy had the most powerful effect on advanced esophageal cancer, and p53 status did not influence the clinical outcome in this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have suggested that enterohepatic circulation of bile acids is essential for regular cycling of duodenal migrating motor complexes (MMCs). The present study was an attempt to clarify the role of bile acids in the enterohepatic circulation system in initiating duodenal MMCs. Seven dogs underwent total external biliary diversion that resulted in the loss of MMCs originating from the duodenum. Sodium ursodeoxycholate (6 mg/kg/hr) was then given either through the portal vein or a peripheral vein, and motility of the gastrointestinal tract was serially recorded. When sodium ursodeoxycholate was given either through the portal vein or a peripheral vein during external biliary diversion, duodenal MMCs restarted. The cyclic change in plasma motilin levels during an MMC cycle as induced by sodium ursodeoxycholate was almost the same as in a normal MMC cycle. Total bile acid concentration in the portal vein changed cyclically with MMC cycles when bile flow was intact but did not change cyclically with MMC cycles restarted by intravenous bile salt infusion. Bile acid stimulation of putative receptors existing between the portal vein and intrahepatic bile ducts may be involved in initiating normal duodenal MMC cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) system was developed to diagnose the reaction and transport of radicals in the ArF-laser-assisted CVD environment. The C( a II) radicals were produced by the multi-photon dissociation of CH. The transport of the radical was directly measured by LIF. The disappearance rate of the radical in CH was also determined. By using the values determined, the in-flux of the C radicals onto a substrate was investigated, based on a diffusion model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SUMMARY. Perforations of the esophagus are uncommon complications of flexible gastrointestinal endoscopy. Perforations after endoscopy are likely to occur in the cervical esophagus, where fiber insertion is difficult anatomically. The diagnosis should be made as soon as possible, because mediastinitis and sepsis frequently develop following esophageal perforations. The surgical strategies are dependent on the location of the perforations and the condition of the patients. For a successful outcome, surgery is a preferred treatment for most perforation cases, and non-operative treatment, such as antibiotics, parental nutrition, and no food intake by mouth, should be applied carefully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diffusion coefficients of C radicals in Ar and H were determined experimentally for the first time. The C radicals were generated by a multi-photon laser photolysis and the spatial behaviour was observed by laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy. Spatial distributions measured were compared with a theory to determine diffusion coefficients. It is shown that the present technique is suitable to measure diffusion coefficients of short-lived radicals that are difficult to measure by any other means. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]